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I Spent 5 Days Living In The Slums Of Mumbai And It Completely Transformed My Outlook On Life

Two and a half years ago, during my first visit in India, I spent 2 days walking all around the slums of Mumbai. Even though I got to learn quite a bit about the life in the slums, I didn’t have the chance to live inside the slums and because of that I left with more questions than answers.

So now that I came back to India for the second time, I decided to go back to Mumbai and spend five days living in Dharavi, which is one of the largest slums in the world.

This experience opened my eyes in ways I couldn’t have imagined, because I got to spend so much time with the local people, who completely transformed my outlook on what their lives were like.

You see, as most outsiders, I had a very distorted view of the people of the slums. We grow up hearing stories about them dying on the streets, no one being able to read and write, kids having to sleep surrounded by flesh-eating rats and so on.

There are, of course, tons of problems that need to be addressed, especially when it comes to sanitation. For example, sources say that in Dharavi there is an average of 1 toilet for a thousand people. Also, livestock generally lives in the same quarters with people and that, combined with the fact that the local water sources lack cleaning facilities, sometimes causes the spread of contagious diseases.

However, people there are just like everywhere else. They have their own dreams, goals, careers, thoughts and emotions. They are in no way different from the rest of us.

It doesn’t matter where we come from. We are all equal. Some of us are born with golden spoons in our mouths, others are not. But that doesn’t define us. What defines us is our pursuit of happiness, our compassion for others and our ability to adapt to whatever circumstances we’re in and make the best of them.

Two years ago I spent two days walking around the slums of Mumbai, but didn’t have the chance to live there and left with more questions than answers…

So now that I came back to India for the second time, I went back to Mumbai

And decided to spend five days living inside Dharavi, which is one of the largest slums in the world

This experience opened my eyes in ways I couldn’t have imagined, because I got to spend so much time with the local people, who completely transformed my outlook on what their lives were like

As most outsiders, I had a very distorted view of the people of the slums. We grow up hearing stories about them dying on the streets, no one being able to read and write, kids having to sleep surrounded by flesh-eating rats and so on

There are, of course, tons of problems that need to be addressed, especially when it comes to sanitation

For example, sources say that in Dharavi there is an average of 1 toilet for a thousand people

Also, livestock generally lives in the same quarters with people and that, combined with the fact that the water sources lack cleaning facilities, sometimes causes the spread of contagious diseases

However, people there are just like everywhere else

They have their own dreams, goals, careers, thoughts and emotions. They are in no way different from the rest of us

It doesn’t matter where we come from. We are all equal. Some of us are born with golden spoons in our mouths, others are not. But that doesn’t define us

What defines us is our pursuit of happiness, our compassion for others and our ability to adapt to whatever circumstances we’re in and make the best of them

I've lived a time like this (three years to be be precisely). It was a hard time, even in a big city in Brazil (Campinas/SP).
I had my son in the middle of the turbulence and lived in a kind of hostel for a year... full of criminals and drug addicts. But some nice people.
We had a good life before that, and now I'd recover it again... but that time made me better.

Hi Jacob,
I live in Mumbai and till date I haven't seen such a beautiful video of my city. Every city have problems, poverty, etc but what makes Dharavi or Mumbai so beautiful is the spirit of the people living in it. Inspite of such a huge difference in lifestyle and such diversity, people know how to live together and fight all odds in the race called Life. You showed what really needed to be shown in your video. I'm very happy that you enjoyed your stay and had an experience of your life. Every city in the world is beautiful, but one should need an eye to see that beauty..
P.S.- Would love to meet you the next time you visit Mumbai.

May be you missed the caption, Its a Slum. The biggest slum in the world. I google'd it "Dharavi", and was blown by sheer size and other things related to it. In India trash is a serious problem I guess, with almost non-existent recycling facilities all the garbage is dumped like this. You can imagine living in a place where for 1000 people they have only 1 toilet(as per above article). But author is correct in pointing out in one thing, no matter where you go, no matter how poor people are, they are same, same needs, same ambitions!

I'm not absolutely sure, and the fact that I'm an Indian doesn't make me right, but I have an answer for your question. One word, corruption. First of all, yes, if you ever have thought that we throw trash just anywhere, you're right, we do. Although we don't prefer to throw garbage everywhere. There's a general lack of morality and a common sense for hygiene. But people nowadays are more responsible, many of us have started cleaning places/grounds etc. Secondly, The amount of money that is sanctioned for maintaining general cleanliness in these areas, is often put away in personal vaults of corrupt, and to some extent absolute asshole politicians and government officials.

I've lived a time like this (three years to be be precisely). It was a hard time, even in a big city in Brazil (Campinas/SP).
I had my son in the middle of the turbulence and lived in a kind of hostel for a year... full of criminals and drug addicts. But some nice people.
We had a good life before that, and now I'd recover it again... but that time made me better.

Hi Jacob,
I live in Mumbai and till date I haven't seen such a beautiful video of my city. Every city have problems, poverty, etc but what makes Dharavi or Mumbai so beautiful is the spirit of the people living in it. Inspite of such a huge difference in lifestyle and such diversity, people know how to live together and fight all odds in the race called Life. You showed what really needed to be shown in your video. I'm very happy that you enjoyed your stay and had an experience of your life. Every city in the world is beautiful, but one should need an eye to see that beauty..
P.S.- Would love to meet you the next time you visit Mumbai.

May be you missed the caption, Its a Slum. The biggest slum in the world. I google'd it "Dharavi", and was blown by sheer size and other things related to it. In India trash is a serious problem I guess, with almost non-existent recycling facilities all the garbage is dumped like this. You can imagine living in a place where for 1000 people they have only 1 toilet(as per above article). But author is correct in pointing out in one thing, no matter where you go, no matter how poor people are, they are same, same needs, same ambitions!

I'm not absolutely sure, and the fact that I'm an Indian doesn't make me right, but I have an answer for your question. One word, corruption. First of all, yes, if you ever have thought that we throw trash just anywhere, you're right, we do. Although we don't prefer to throw garbage everywhere. There's a general lack of morality and a common sense for hygiene. But people nowadays are more responsible, many of us have started cleaning places/grounds etc. Secondly, The amount of money that is sanctioned for maintaining general cleanliness in these areas, is often put away in personal vaults of corrupt, and to some extent absolute asshole politicians and government officials.